"Do you get high in here?!"

A colleague walked into one of the greenhouses today for the first time. She asked, "do you get high in here?" (Now, in our current political culture, after two states passed legislation related to legalizing smoking marijuana you may be concerned; I assure you, there's no need.) The smell has become somewhat normal to me but it's intoxicating, especially in the middle of January; when the world around us is readying to hibernate, a chunk of my world is entering the first weeks of spring (it's fighting to do so but I feel like that is what nature is all about - a fight to survive, grow, and thrive!)

A colleague brought in tomato plants that are nearly 3' high now. Tomatoes. Smells like a ripe, middle-of-summer tomato. (And I love the smell of fresh, straight from the vine, tomatoes. It's so different from the smell grocery-store tomatoes exude now, after travelling from warmer climes.)

In addition to the tomato, there are between 200 - 300 sprouts shooting up. It smells lush, green: and then occasionally, I catch a whiff of Cilantro, Sage, Thyme, or Basil.

Soil: there is now nearly 300 pounds of it piled neatly into containers here in the greenhouse. Which gives off that wonderful earthy, life-giving aroma.

It's snowing. Outside of the greenhouse, the weather is appropriate for the end of January: snow has arrived. While most of the natural world is slumbering through winter, there's a different smell to the snow in the greenhouse. The snow, a few flakes have scurried their way inside. They've found their way through the spaces between ceiling panels and now that there is  bit of snow inside, it smells refreshing; more similar to a spring-time rain in April.

Today, with all of those smells combined, although it's snowing outside, it smells like a spring rain. Like I have escaped winter's grasp and have time traveled right into spring. Maybe that is why I have had a difficult time being productive in the office lately; I'm intoxicated with the aroma of the greenhouse. 

Wild in the Greenhouse: Hunting for Mushrooms

That’s the title of a new lesson, hot off the presses; seems there is something wild growing in the greenhouse.

I should not be surprised really; from what I have read, the growing conditions in this greenhouse are excellent for Mycelia germination and fruiting (because the mushroom is actually the fruit of the fungi). (I think Mycelia is the type of mushroom that's growing here) The greenhouse is almost always between 70-77F (ideal temperatures for this mushroom), damp, and compressed soil. (It looks as though I had some overzealous soil packers during transplanting. Some of the soil in these containers looks heavily compressed, leading to a lack of air and water flow; the Mycelia Mushroom delights in poorly aerated soils.)

Today’s original plan was a Hydroponics Lesson. Instead, I will take a cue from Nature. With a bit of quick research on my part, I think I have the basics of Mushrooms down. I now know for certain I will never be an expert but I am hoping with a little coaching my students will be able to keep these mushrooms at bay in the greenhouse. We do not want mushrooms crowding out our tomatoes, cilantro, sage, and parsley!

After a few basics on mushrooms, I will let my students loose to harvest wild mushrooms in the greenhouse. I learned that picking does not kill the underground spores but will help prevent reproduction and thus spreading. Thus today, they will be hunting mushrooms, not to eat but to pick fruits in order to prevent them from spreading their spores.

One of my students, scooping up some mushrooms; she actually took these and put them in the lid from a discarded water bottle. She's going to see if she can keep them growing on her own. I'm excited to hear the results!

Additionally, I am going to ask the students what they think we should do to curb mushroom growth in our greenhouse. There are a few methods we can try but would like the students to actively participate in this decision process. We can try: aerating the soil (for better water absorption), applying a nitrogen fertilizer (which will speed decomposition of the organic matter which feeds fungus), or reducing irrigation (creating a drier soil and a less ideal condition for Mycelia growth and fruiting).

**Post lesson update: One student suggested peat moss to help aerate the soil and absorb some of the moisture. We may try that next week, they all agreed that the moss may help us fight the fungus and are eager to get their hands dirty again.

Any other thoughts for curbing mushroom growth?